Variability in the spatial association patterns of sponge assemblages in response to environmental heterogeneity

Previous work on tropical sponge assemblages has provided strong evidence that sponges coexist on coral reefs through a diversity of positive and negative associations; however, the majority of this work has focused on Caribbean coral reefs. Here, we investigate the intra-phyletic spatial associations between the 20 most abundant sponge species at two sites experiencing different environmental regimes in the Wakatobi National Marine Park, Indonesia. We used a Monte Carlo simulation approach to compare the number of spatial associations between each species pair to that expected if species distribution patterns were non-associative (i.e. random). We found that sponges were predominately randomly distributed at the high coral cover site, whereas most sponges were negatively associated with other sponges at the sedimented, low coral cover site. We also found differences between distribution patterns for specific species at the two sites; a number of species that showed a random distribution pattern at the high coral cover site had negative association patterns at the low coral cover site. Our research supports recent ecological studies suggesting that interactions between species are unlikely to be homogenously distributed, as we found that some sponge species interactions differed depending on the environmental regimes in which they were found; this suggests that species interactions may be spatially variable. Finally, our results contrast with studies from elsewhere, as the sponge assemblages at these two sites in the Wakatobi appear to be dominated by negative associations and random distribution patterns rather than widespread competition.     

Pinning down vulnerability: from narratives to numbers

Social vulnerability analyses have typically relied upon narratives to capture the nuances of the concept. While narratives have enhanced our understanding of the multiple drivers of vulnerability, they have had limited influence on hazards and climate adaptation policy. This is partially a function of the different needs and goals of the policy and research communities. The former prioritises generalised quantitative information, while the latter is more concerned with capturing complexity. A theoretically driven and empirically tested quantitative vulnerability and capacities index (VCI) for use at the local scale is presented to help connect vulnerability research and policy. There are four versions of the index for use in rural and urban contexts at the household and community levels. There can be an infinite number of drivers of vulnerability, but the VCI draws upon 12 indicators to represent material, institutional and attitudinal aspects of differential vulnerability and capacities.     

Road Traffic Pollution Monitoring and Modelling Tools and the UK National Air Quality Strategy

This paper provides an assessment of the tools required to fulfil the air quality management role now expected of local authorities within the UK. The use of a range of pollution monitoring tools in assessing air quality is discussed and illustrated with evidence from a number of previous studies of urban background and roadside pollution monitoring in Leicester. A number of approaches to pollution modelling currently available for deployment are examined. Subsequently, the modelling and monitoring tools are assessed against the requirements of local authorities establishing air quality management areas. Whilst the paper examines UK-based policy, the study is of wider international interest.     

The use of ambient air quality modeling to estimate individual and population exposure for human health research: a case study of ozone in the Northern Georgia Region of the United States

Ambient monitors are commonly used to estimate exposure for epidemiological studies, and air quality modeling is infrequently applied. However air quality modeling systems have the potential to alleviate some, although not all, of the limitations of monitoring networks. To investigate this application, exposure estimates were generated for a case study high ozone episode in the Northern Georgia Region of the United States based on measurements and concentration estimates from an air quality modeling system. Hourly estimates for 2268 4-km by 4-km gridcells were generated in a domain that includes only eight ozone monitors. Individual and population-based ozone exposures were estimated using multiple approaches, including area-weighted average of modeled estimates, nearest monitor, and spatial interpolation by inverse distance weighting and kriging. Results based on concentration fields from the air quality modeling system revealed spatial heterogeneity that was obscured by approaches based on the monitoring network. With some techniques, such as spatial interpolation, monitoring data alone was insufficient to estimate exposure for certain areas, especially for rural populations. For locations far from ozone monitors, the estimates from the nearest monitor approach tended to overestimate exposure, compared to modeled estimates. Counties in which one or more monitors were present had statistically higher population density and modeled ozone estimates than did counties without monitors (p-value <0.05). This work demonstrates the use of air quality modeling to generate higher spatial and temporal resolution exposure estimates, and compares the advantages of this approach to traditional methods that use monitoring data alone. The air quality modeling method faces its own limitations, such as the need to thoroughly evaluate concentration estimates and the use of ambient levels rather than personal exposure.     

有限元在安全帽设计中的应用

安全帽可以防止高空坠落物对人员头部造成伤害。在材料和工艺一定的前提下,安全帽的结构对发挥安全帽的作用尤为重要。本文首先对安全帽作用机理及使用情况进行分析,指出改善安全帽帽壳缓冲性能有利于更好地发挥安全帽的作用。然后简要介绍ANSYS的建模方案以及网格划分和自由度约束情况,通过对安全帽的ANSYS有限元分析,得出安全帽的变形和应变图,并通过分析安全帽从最低端到顶端的变形和应变情况,指出安全帽在撞击过程中的能力吸收规律,根据分析数据提出建立双层安全帽帽壳的改进方案,并再次通过有限元分析得出变形和应变图,验证了双层安全帽帽壳在缓冲方面更有效果,这种分析结果可以为安全帽帽壳的设计提供参考。     

化工厂雷击灾害风险评估

针对雷击灾害对某化学公司可能造成的损失进行雷击风险评估,并根据《建筑物防雷设计规范》( GB50057 -2010)中的要求提出具有针对性的安全解决方案,供化工行业的单位在预防雷击灾害和安全生产方面作为参考.某化学公司建设项目的生产原材料、中间产品、成品存在多种对环境和对人体健康有害的成份,若该项目防雷防静电措施达不到防护等级要求,一旦遭受雷击,极易引起火灾、爆炸、中毒、腐蚀等事故.对其进行雷电灾害风险评估,目的是分析建设项目遭受雷击损害的可能性,计算雷击人员生命损失风险,并与风险允许值比较,判断是否需要采取防雷措施,以及防雷措施应达到的防护等级,提出科学、经济、符合项目特性的防雷措施,以降低雷击风险,使雷击风险在可接受的范围内,确保建筑物内的人员生命及财产的防雷安全.     

湖泊沉积物中微生物群落对天然有机质输入的响应

全球气候变化和蓝藻水华暴发造成湖泊生源、陆源天然有机质（NOM）输入显著增加,以太湖藻型湖湾为例,考察沉积物中微生物群落的活性、组成及功能对不同浓度藻源有机质（POM）和陆源腐殖酸（HA）的响应特征.三维荧光分析显示POM化学多样性较高,包含易降解的类蛋白（50%）和难降解的类腐殖质组分（50%）,而类腐殖质占HA荧光组分的97%.两个月的微宇宙实验表明,对于同种NOM,沉积物中微生物矿化作用随NOM浓度升高而增强;但POM组中有机碳去除量显著高于同等浓度的HA组.胞外聚合物分析显示NOM输入有利于微生物分泌蛋白质和多糖,提高了微生物群落的聚集度和稳定性;酶活分析表明POM对脲酶、脱氢酶等有机物代谢酶的激发效应强于HA,形成了代谢更活跃的微生物群落.同时,NOM输入（尤其是POM）提高了微生物群落的物种多样性,增加了Proteobacteria和Bacteroidetes等参与有机物分解的菌群丰度,上调了与代谢相关的KEGG功能基因丰度.以上结果表明湖泊沉积物中微生物群落的活性和功能与NOM的来源和浓度有关.     

人为干扰条件下白洋淀底栖动物群落变化及其主要环境影响因子分析

底栖动物对维持和稳定湖泊生态系统结构与功能具有重要作用.为了探明长期强人为干扰条件下底栖动物群落结构特征及其主要环境影响因子,本研究分别于2009年和2018年的4月和8月采集和分析了白洋淀8个区水体、沉积物和底栖动物样品.根据人为干扰程度的不同,将白洋淀分为重度干扰区（HD）、中度干扰区（MD）和轻度干扰区（LD）,同时分析了3类生境的理化参数和底栖动物群落结构与多样性指数.研究结果表明：1就水体和沉积物理化参数而言,总磷（TP）、总氮（TN）、氨氮（NH₄⁺）、硝酸盐（NO₃^-）、磷酸盐（PO₄^3-）和沉积物总氮（TNs）、总磷（TPs）等理化参数在重度干扰区呈最高值;2就底栖动物群落组成而言,在重度干扰区底栖动物群落物种丰度、生物量、密度均最低,且优势种大多以水生昆虫为主;3就底栖动物群落多样性指数而言,2009年,白洋淀底栖动物群落Margalef丰富度指数D值（0.84）和Shannon-Wiener多样性指数H''值（1.13）均在中度干扰区最高,而Pielou均匀度指数J值（0.53）在轻度干扰区最高,这些指数均与沉积物总氮（TNs）呈显著负相关;2018年,D值（2.02）和H''值（2.21）在轻度干扰区中最高,而J值（0.84）在重度干扰区中最高,D值和H''值与水深（Water depth,WD）呈正相关关系,而与硝酸盐（NO₃^-）和总磷（TP）等呈负相关关系;4RDA分析结果表明,白洋淀底栖动物群落组成的主要环境影响因子在2009年为WD和pH,而在2018年为沉积物中总磷（TPs）.2009-2018年,白洋淀底栖动物群落（主要影响因子从WD和pH变为沉积物总磷）和多样性指数（主要影响因子从TNs变为WD、TN、TP、NO₃^-、TNs等）的主要环境影响因子发生了显著变化.因此,针对主要环境影响因子的时间变化,在不同时期底栖动物群落的恢复需采取不同措施,本研究结果可为白洋淀生态修复提供理论和数据基础.     

Experimental studies on the deposition to crops of radioactive gases released from gas-cooled reactors--III. Carbon-14 dioxide

Experimental studies were performed under controlled environmental conditions to determine the deposition and subsequent allocation of carbon-14, following a short-term fumigation of major British crops with 14CO2. The deposition velocities varied between 0.075 and 1.32 cm3 g-1 s-1 and 0.0008 and 0.157 cm s-1 on weight and area bases, respectively. The primary sites of deposition were leaves, although other organs, e.g. ears and pods, were increasingly important as the crops developed. Activity was allocated post-deposition to those crop components actively growing at the time of deposition. The allocation was generally completed 24 h after fumigation, the exceptions to this being those crops where reproductive organs developed after the fumigation. A single exponential function was the best fit for the loss of activity from the crops. The data are discussed in the context of modelling carbon-14 contamination of crops following radioactive discharges.